Expendable bandoleer



Jan. 24, W K FOGLE EXPENDABLE BANDOLEER Filed May 2l, 1952 dll-lvl sul'.

United States Patent C EXPENDABLE BANDOLEER William K. Fogle, MountA Vernon, Ohio, assignor, by mesne assignments, toContnental- Can Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a-corporation off New York Application May 21, 1952SerialrNo. 289,163 1 Claim. (Cl.2241'7)f This invention relates to carrying devices for ammunition and is more particularly concerned with improvements in bandoleers for supporting on the person a plurality of clips of small caliber ammunition, such as supplied to infantrymen and similar military personnel.

Heretofore bandoleers provided for carrying a supply of clips of rifle ammunition have been formed of cloth or similar fabric folded and sewed to provide a body member having a plurality of unsealed pockets in which the clips are inserted, with a shoulder strap being attached by sewing the ends thereof to the ends of the body member. A bandoleer of this type must be filled manually and its cost is such that it is not treated as an expendable item. The clips are extracted as needed for use and the bandoleer is returned for reloading with fresh ammunition. It affords no protection to the inclosed clips against the deteriorating effects of moisture or the like when the bandoleer is in storage or in use in climates where it is subject to adverse conditions.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide a bandoleer which is sutiiciently low in cost to permit it to be treated as an expendable item, which does not deteriorate from age, and which affords substantial protection to the enclosed clips regardless of the adverse conditions under which it is stored or used.

It is a more specific object of the invention to provide a bandoleer formed from a material which has weatherproof characteristics and which is so constructed that the individual ammunition clips are completely enclosed and sealed in moisture and vapor-proof pockets.

lt is a further object of the invention to provide a bandoleer formed of relatively inexpensive materials which particularly adapts the device for a single use, permitting it to be discarded when the last clip of ammunition has been removed from the pockets therein.

lt is another object of the invention to provide a bandoleer which can be formed from suitable material and loaded with the clips in automatic machinery without any manual operations being necessary to completely form, load and seal the device.

It is still another object of the invention to provide a bandoleer which is adapted to be formed of flexible sheet material folded and divided into individual pouches for receiving a plurality of ammunition clips and which is provided along the longitudinal edge thereof with a teartape or the like, permitting ready access to the separate pouches for removal of the individual clips in succession, with each clip being removed without disturbing the next adjacent clip or opening the pocket in which it is enclosed.

It is a further object of the invention to providev a bandoleer which is formed from a web of cloth or fabric laminated to a continuous plastic lm, or to a metal foil, with the plastic lm or foil being arranged onV the interior of the bandoleer.V

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the bandoleer which is shown by way of. illustration of the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. l is aA perspective view of a. bandoleer incorporating the principal features of the invention and indicating the position of the bandoleer when worn by the user;

Fig. 2 is.an elevation of the body of the bandoleer in opened out position with the carrying strap broken away;

Fig. 3 is a cross section` to an enlarged scale taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2; and

Fig; 5 is a fragmentary elevation illustrating the manner of' removing the ammunition clips.

The bandoleer which is shown in the drawings comprises a body portion 10 which is preferably formed from a web or sheet of laminated material. The material may consist of an outer cloth or fabric 11 and an inner liner of a continuous plastic 12 which has heat sealing properties or which is supplied with a heat sealing coating of a conventional character.

The body 10 is formed to provide a plurality of pockets 13 for receiving the clips of ammunition by first folding the laminated material on its longitudinal axis, the fold constituting the bottom edge 14 of an elongate container. Preferably a tear or rip tape 15, of cloth, cord or similar material, is provided along the bottom edge and secured by heat sealing or a suitable adhesive within the bottom fold, one or both ends of the tape 15 extending beyond the end of the body`1l in the completed device. The longitudinally folded material is transversely sealed along longitudinally spaced lines 16 to divide the same into a plurality of the pockets or compartments 13, each 0f the pockets 13 being of a proper size to receive loosely therein an ammunition clip 17. A longitudinal edge seam or seal 13 is formed along the free edges of the material to close the pockets 13 after the ammunition clips 17 have been inserted therein. The seam areas 19 at opposite ends of the body 10 are of suicient width to receive the ends 20 of the carrying strap 21 between the folds of the material constituting the body 10, with the strap ends 20 being securely anchored therein preferably by heat sealing or alternatively by stapling, or any other manner of fastening.

The bandoleer is, of course, adapted to be positioned on the user with carrying strap 21 extending over the shoulder and with the body of the bandoleer curved around the opposite side, the folded edge 14 being directed downwardly. The pockets 13 in which the clips of ammunition 17 are sealed may be opened by grasping the free end of the tear tape 15 and tearing the material along the bottom edge 14 whereupon the ammunition clips 17 are freed to drop into the hand of the user. This construction permits the user to extract the clips 17 one by one with the use of one hand since the ammunition clips 17 will readily drop out of successive pockets as the pouch is torn along the bottom edge 14.

The tear tape 15 may not be necessary when the material of the body 10 is such that it will readily tear along a line without a tape. A notch or slit may, of course, be provided on one or both end edges to facilitate the initial tearing.

While a preferred material for the body 1t) is described it will be understood that other materials may be used such as a laminated material of fabric, metal foil and a plastic film or any other combination of materials which will provide the sealing characteristics desired and which will result in a substantially moistureproof enclosure or pocket for the ammunition clips. Also the carrying strap 21 may be of any suitable material which is the same as or which differs from the material in the body 10.

An example of a suitable material which may be used for the bandoleer comprises O. D. duck cotton cloth of 3 relatively light weight, .001 aluminum foil and .001 polyethylene lm, the material being laminated with the polyethylene iilm on the interior surface.

1 claim:

A carrier for ammunition clips which is adapted to be discarded after a single use, said carrier comprising a generally elongate container formed of a flexible laminated sheet material, the outer ply of said material being cloth and the inner ply thereof being a substantially waterproof and heat-scalable continuous plastic film, said container being heat sealed along the sides and ends and being provided With a plurality of longitudinally spaced transverse heat seals separating the same into a plurality of individual completely sealed pockets and each pocket having an ammunition clip enclosed therein, a carrying strap 15 4 attached at its ends to the opposite ends of said container to support the same on the body of the user, and means to facilitate tearing the material along a longitudinal edge to release successive ammunition clips from said individual pockets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,110,694 Jennings Sept. 15, 1914 1,850,410 Milam e- Mar. 22, 1932 2,015,972 Sodergren Oct. 1, 1935 2,071,035 Jenett Feb. 16, 1937 2,234,655 Salsberg Mar. 11, 1941 2,596,884 Bailen May 13, 1952 

